


the same smile

by dat_heichou



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, One Shot, Sailor Moon AU, brief scenes of fantasy violence, jean centric, jean loves marco v much and so do i, jean makes a skeptical space prince/hero, levi is tired of his shit, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 08:56:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13096713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dat_heichou/pseuds/dat_heichou
Summary: It's confusing to be told that you're a space prince that needs to fight aliens, but in some ways its even worse to be told you have a soulmate from a past life wandering around somewhere.A Sailor Moon au where Jean is the Moon Prince and he's completely infatuated with his classmate and the tuxedoed stranger he fights monsters with.





	the same smile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Scorpyo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scorpyo/gifts).



> Happy Holidays Scorp-yo!
> 
> I ran with your Sailor Moon idea and I had a lot of fun writing this. I hope you enjoy it! ^_^
> 
> Thanks for the moderators for continuing the jmge experience! It's always a pleasure.
> 
> kate-writes-fluff.tumblr.com

Of all the ways Jean imagined his day starting, being chided by a cat about his fashion choices certainly wasn’t it.

The cat in question isn’t even  _ his _ , its a black cat that he had happened to find the day before.  It’s most defining characteristic, besides the apparent ability to talk, is the crescent shaped mark on its forehead.

“Do you really need to dress like a delinquent?  You wear a school uniform, stop trying to make yourself stand out as an idiot.  It’s unbecoming as a prince.”  The cat flicks his tail in annoyance as it glares at him, almost as if trying to flick loose black hairs onto Jean’s pillow on purpose.  Actually, considering the animal’s brash personality, it probably  _ is _ intentional.

“You’ve been calling me a prince since I found you last night.  I’m starting to think  _ you’re  _ the delusional one, not me,” Jean remarks, glaring at the cat through his mirror as he adjusts his shirt collar to be casually disheveled.  So far the cat hasn’t spoken in front of anyone else, so Jean doesn’t know for sure if he’s hallucinating or if the talking cat is legit.  At least he knows his mother saw the strange mark on the cat’s forehead, if her suggestion to name him Luna is any indication.

The cat huffs at him, raising a paw to lick his leg.  Jean’s heard that cats groom a lot, but with Levi its near constant. It's almost like Jean’s house is making him feel dirty just by sitting in it.  “At least don’t use all that stupid gel in your hair.  It makes you look like a douche.”

“Fuck you Levi,” Jean bites back, “What does a cat know about fashion, anyway?”  Behind him, the cat rambles on again about how he’s  _ not  _ technically a cat, he’s actually a shape shifting lunar guardian.  Jean’s already heard the spiel and he doubts hearing it a second time will make him understand it any more than he did last night, so he just turns back to the mirror to style his hair.  He does, however, use a smaller glob of gel than he usually does.  The stupid cat might have a point.

* * *

“Mr. Kirstein, do you have any reason why you’re late?” His teacher asks, eyeing him sternly from his teaching podium.  The whole class looks up to stare at him trapped in the doorway.  Some of them smirk at his misfortune, but one classmate in particular smiles brightly at him.  As usual, Jean can’t look at Marco when he’s cute like that, so Jean glares back at his teacher instead.

Like hell he’s gonna say, _ “I was busy fighting with my cat--actually, wait, it's not even my cat.”  _  So instead he musters the best stink eye he has and stays quiet until his teacher finally sighs and orders a resolute, “You’re on cleaning duty today.”

Jean rolls his eyes, but accepts this outcome--he’s had enough sessions of cleaning duty to be quick and efficient at it anyway, so it's no great loss.  Just to show he's cool enough to not care about punishment, he takes his time as he saunters to his seat.  If everyone is already staring at him, he might as well take his time and stall as much as he’s able.  

He slides into his chair slowly, growing nervous for the first time that morning.  Getting yelled at by a teacher is no big deal, but this, this is the hard part.  Marco, the endearingly adorable guy that Jean has the absolute misfortune to sit next to, smiles at him and whispers “good morning” as their teacher turns back to the blackboard.  Jean can only muster an acknowledging grunt as he hides his blush in his textbook.

* * *

“You realize Marco probably thinks you're a huge jerk because you never smile back or anything,” Ymir suggests in between bites of the school lunch.

This is absolutely rich coming from Ymir of all people, but Jean can’t help but worry she’s right.  Instead of fighting the accusation, he whines and buries his head into the table.  “But he’s too cute!!  I can’t look at him.”

“Weak,” Ymir snorts, turning to flash a wink at Krista two tables over.  The blonde giggles at the gesture and Ymir sits a little taller, puffing up her chest with pride.  “You gotta go for what you want.”

Jean simply groans.  His edgy appearance is all show, because honestly he is absolutely awful about going after what he wants.  Maybe he  _ is  _ just a jerky loser.   


* * *

 

He’s still thinking about it hours later when he’s finished cleaning the classroom.  By this point, he’s stalled enough that all the other students have been long gone, so he can gladly mope in peace as he walks home.

“Does he really think I’m a jerk? But he keeps saying hi to me, even if I don’t answer… Would he do that if he thought I was a jerk… Knowing Marco he would…”  Jean mumbles to himself as he walks out the front of the building.

“Boy troubles?” Asks a voice that absolutely shouldn’t be there.

“Fuck, Levi!” Jean whirls on his heels, finally noticing the black cat sitting under the school’s fence.  “I left you at home!”

The cat makes a noise closer to a _ “tsk _ ” than a hiss.  “We have business to do, I can’t wait for your ass all day,” he retorts.  “Follow me.”  He darts down the street, leaving Jean to run to catch up.

Jean might not be the least athletic person around, but he has the definitely opposed to the idea and practice of running. In his not-so-humble opinion, running is not something anyone in their right mind should enjoy.  In fact, Marco’s position on the track team is probably the only flaw that Jean can find.  Though those legs of his are nice enough for Jean to let the lack of judgement slide.  

Distracted by the thought of Marco’s long, shapely, muscular legs, Jean almost steps on Levi’s tail, not aware the cat has abruptly stopped until he’s nearly caught underfoot.

“What’s going on?” Jean asks, glancing around the square that they’ve stopped in.  It's not extremely crowded, but there is enough people milling around to make Levi avoid answering out loud.

Screams interrupt Jean’s confusion as what he can only describe as a gigantic cactus woman enters the square, grabbing another young woman in her prickly arms before dragging her away into a side alley.

The people in the square seem equally dumbfounded as Jean, but eventually laugh it off as some sort of publicity stunt.  As much as he hopes it is one, Jean can’t help but feel extremely unsettled.  His gut reaction tells him that something doesn’t seem right.

He’s still staring down the alley the monster disappeared into, jaw dropped in shock, when a sharp pain harshly pulls him back to reality.  “Oww, what the hell Levi?” he glares down at the black cat that still has needle-like teeth buried into his ankle.  Levi simply hisses before running off into another side street.

_ “Stupid cat,”  _ Jean complains under his breath, but follows him regardless.

The alley they run into is creepily empty, but Levi seems comfortable enough to start talking again.  “It’s time to fulfill your other role as a defender of justice.”

“What???”  Of all the weird shit Levi’s told him, he never said anything about him defending anything.  Jean can't help but wonder if there were humongous cactus people on the moon too, if it’s some duty of his to fight them.

“Here.”  Out of thin air, Levi materializes a pendant.  Or is it a brooch?  It’s hard for him to tell.  All Jean knows is that it was definitely not there a second ago.

“What is it?” Despite his increasing distaste of the absurd amount of weirdness suddenly thrown into his life, he’s still curious and wants to touch it.  Whatever the strange thing is, it feels familiar, like something he dreamt up as a child but forgot until now.  

The instant his skin touches the shiny golden object, Jean is engulfed in a flash of light and warmth. The heat seems to sink into his bones, spreading from his hand to the rest of his body.

He’s about to yell  _ “the fuck?!”  _ when the light disappears just as quickly at it appeared.  Now that he can see again, he’s mildly surprised to see that the jewelry has disappeared from his hand, but then again, was he wearing gloves earlier?

He’s distracted away from his new white gloves by a breeze fluttering past his thighs.

On a scale of one to ten of the weirdest shit that has happened to him over the past couple of days, suddenly looking down to see a mini-skirt instead of his uniform slacks rates a solid six.  The talking cat and the cactus woman are tied for solid tens on the scale, of course.

“Levi, what the hell???” Jean exclaims, catching a glimpse of his reflection in an empty shop window.  His hair is a little longer, obscuring the darker shade of his undercut.  Instead of being gelled back, his bangs brush against his forehead, along with a shiny golden tiara.  The whole outfit looks like a sexy sailor uniform with a short pleated skirt and knee high red boots.  

“Your identity is important.  Right now, enemies don’t know who you are and we should keep it that way.”

“So people will think I’m a girl?”  Jean furrows his eyebrows at himself in the mirror.  He doesn’t look like himself, but he doesn’t think he looks like a girl either.  There’s too much that’s familiar left staring back at him.

“So many earthlings have such rigidly defined ideas of gender,” Levi scoffs.  “A skirt is as masculine or as feminine as the person wearing it wants it to be, just like anyone can wear pants.  The whole point is that this isn’t exactly what you would normally wear, so it’ll misdirect some people.  The hair had to go though.  No one else has such a gaudy eyesore on their head.”

“Hey!!”  Jean exclaims just as another scream sounds.  It sounds like the cactus woman’s prisoner is just around the corner.

“Time to go!” Levi sprints away and Jean is compelled to follow once again.  This time though, he is shocked by the boost to his own speed.  It seems like more than just his appearance has changed.

Once he confronts the cactus, he feels words come to him unbidden, announcing that he’s the defender of justice, Sailor Moon.  Inside, he cringes at the name--why is he a sailor? Is there a ship?

The words might come naturally, but the combat skills do not.  The cactus is stronger and faster than he expected, throwing her captive aside in order to rush and try to catch him.  Though he has never heard of “Sailor Moon” before, the creature seems to recognize the name, growing more agitated at his presence.

Levi’s yelling instructions at him but he can’t focus enough to understand them, too busy trying to evade the sharp arms grabbing for him.  He’s only barely able to dodge a blow to his head that knocks him off-balance, making him stumble and fall.  He hears Levi yell something about the tiara, but he can’t figure out what to do.  Combat training would have helped, holy shit.

The only good news is that the poor woman that the cactus had abducted is able to run away while Jean completely bungles his attempted rescue.

As the cactus woman raises her hand for another blow, she makes the spikes grow more on her hand, lengthening them a solid six inches.  Jean barely realizes that the blow is intended to be lethal when a long stick collides with the monster, throwing it aside.

“Are you alright?, a man asks, extending an arm to help Jean up.  The top half of the man’s face is covered with a black mask, strangely complementing his black suit and top hat.  Jean can’t spend too long examining his savior, however, because the cactus woman is getting back up, this time even angrier than she was before.

“Sailor Moon,” Levi yells--Jean hates how naturally he responds to the title--, “Only you can defeat it.  Take this!”  The cat throws something else at him and as Jean catches it, he realizes its a wand with a crescent on the top.

This time, his body knows what to do.  Yelling “Moon Prism Power” is more embarrassing with an audience, but he figures the man has already seen enough weird stuff to take this in stride.  As his magic hits it, the villain disintegrates, leaving only an unconscious woman behind.  The suited stranger is kind enough to check to make sure she’s unharmed.

“She’ll wake up in a few minutes,” Levi interrupts.  “We should go.  The less people that see you, the better.”

But Jean is nothing if not stubborn and he needs to satisfy his curiosity before he leaves.  “Thank you for saving me… but who are you?” He asks the tuxedoed stranger.

The man simply smiles and says, “I am Tuxedo Mask, a defender of justice like you.”

Jean could get lost in that adorable dimpled smile.  It’s kind, almost as sweet as the cheerful greetings Marco gives him every morning.  Jean would have a hard time answering a smile like that, but somehow as Sailor Moon he can manage to grin back.

Of course, his expression falls into a grimace as Levi manages to bite through his boot.  “Go. Now”

If anyone asks Jean, the cat’s name is “Mood Killer.”

* * *

 

It's only when Jean is safe in bed and his room lit by the glow of the full moon that he gets a chance to ask Levi the questions burning at his tongue.

“So I’m a prince  _ and  _ a defender of justice? How does that work?”

Levi kneads the bed beside him, making himself a comfortable spot to settle.  “Good leaders protect their people, don’t they?”

“But… we’re not on the moon.”

“Neither are our enemies,” Levi remarks darkly.  “We sent you and the scouts to Earth to protect you, but our enemies followed us here.  We need to take responsibility and protect the creatures of Earth as well.”

Levi tends to skirt around the details of the people that destroyed the Moon Kingdom, hesitant to dwell on the painful past that Jean has forgotten but he remembers far too well.  Even just this glimpse of the past makes his voice dark and serious in a way that makes Jean uneasy.  He decides to change the topic, if only so he can sleep later.

“So… who’s Tuxedo Mask?  Is he from the moon too?”

Levi hums in contemplation, his rigid posture relaxing.  “Yes and no.”

“What does that mean?”

“He was the prince of Earth, back when the Moon Kingdom existed.  He came to the moon as an ambassador and you two fell in love.”

There’s a lot of things Levi says that contradict the science and history that Jean has learned about in school, but at the same time there are too many weird things that have happened to him that don’t make sense any other way.

What makes the most sense is the fact that Prince Jean fell in love with a man with that smile and those broad shoulders.  That, he can easily believe.

“I guess you can consider him your soulmate,” Levi suggests.

A corner of Jean’s tired mind suggests that he should be concerned about that, knowing that he has a soulmate from a past life wandering around as a mysterious stranger.  But instead, he’s too overwhelmed with tiredness to worry about it.

“Do you have a soulmate, Levi?”  The question is far more personal than anything he’s asked the cat before, but surprisingly Levi doesn’t bristle at the audacity of it.  Maybe Levi’s more tired than Jean thought or maybe they were far closer in that past life than Jean realized, but the cat calmly closes his eyes and answers easily.

“Yes.”

“Are they on Earth too?”

“Yes.  I don’t know where, but I know he’s here.”

Prompted by the earnestness of the conversation, Jean reaches out to clumsily scratch Levi behind the ear.  “I hope you find him, Levi.”

In the quiet of the night, Levi only purrs in answer.

* * *

After a month of working with Levi to fight alien parasite monsters, Jean realizes one thing:  Being a superhero is hard work.  He’s definitely grown stronger though, especially now that he’s found some of those sailor scouts Levi told him about.  It’s so much easier when there are people that help and support you, not only in fights but in dealing with keeping this second identity a secret.  He’s only known some of them a short time, but they truly mean the world to him.

Even when they roll their eyes at him as he rambles on about his crushes again.

“Does it count as cheating on my soulmate if I have a crush on someone else?”  Jean asks.  Connie and Sasha groan beside him before each taking bites of their sundaes.  It isn’t the first time this conversation has come up and until Jean manages to find Tuxedo Mask’s real identity and sit him down and ask him about it, this certainly isn’t going to be the last time they talk about it either.

“Oh come on,” Ymir complains as she flops into the booth beside him, “You can barely exist in the same room as Marco.  Even if you were married to Tuxedo Man, that wouldn’t count as cheating.”

Jean’s not sure if he was surprised or not when he found out Ymir was a scout too.  On the one hand, it explained why they clicked so well when they first met.  On the other hand, Ymir is… Ymir.  It’s hard to picture her as anything other than a loud-mouthed high schooler.

“It's possible to have crushes on multiple people at the same time,” Sasha suggests. “Crushes don’t mean you need to act on them.”

Honestly, Jean’s no stranger to crushing on multiple people at once.  It’s actually something that’s happens to him a lot.  When he first met Marco he still had an extreme crush on Mikasa and even that didn’t stop him from developing the monster of a crush he had on him.  Actually, witnessing one of Mikasa’s rare smiles might  _ still _ send him into cardiac arrest.

The only problem is that when you throw “soulmate” into the equation, well it  _ feels  _ important.  Jean feels like he  _ has _ to end up with Tuxedo Mask, like that is the only future possible.  Which isn’t bad in itself, because the man is cool and suave and heroic and overall amazing.  Everytime they fight evil together, Jean finds himself falling deeper into his crush on the hero.

But at the same time, his crush on Marco isn’t going away either.  The other boy is just so sweet and kind, even when Jean is clumsy and awkward, barely able to say hi in return.  (In the past month, he’s proud to say that he can actually greet him now though, instead of hiding his face in his book.  The next step is smiling back.)

“Maybe Marco  _ is  _ Tuxedo Mask,” Connie suggests, his tone awed the same way it is when he tells them about strange conspiracy theories, like, “ _ The moon landing must be faked, if they don’t know about the kingdom, right?  Its something people would know about by now.” _

Ymir snorts.  “Like Jean could  _ be  _ that lucky.”

Some days, Jean really _ really _ wishes he was.   


* * *

 

Once Levi became confident that Jean probably wouldn’t die without constant supervision, he started wandering out on his own a lot.  He likes to patrol the city, keeping an ear out for weird situations--it's actually how they found leads to the other scouts. 

Jean doesn't mind it since Levi really seems to enjoy time alone.  He’s always back before Jean falls asleep, joining him on his bed and lulling him to sleep with stories about his feline adventures of the day.  Levi seems especially wistful when he mentions golden cats he’s seen.  They’re never the one he’s looking for.

It’s become routine for Levi to come and go freely, so Jean doesn’t worry at all.

Until one night Levi doesn’t come back.

* * *

 

The next morning, Jean isn’t quite sure what to do.  Thankfully it’s a Sunday, so he doesn’t have to worry about school.  Part of him wants to sit around at home to see if the cat will eventually show back up, but at the same time it would make him feel better to go look around town.

He calls his friends to ask for their help and they say they’ll keep an eye open.  Ymir laughs and says that he’s probably fine and that Jean’s worrying for nothing, but she still says she’ll be on the lookout.

The day drags on with no sign of Levi, but at least Jean doesn’t see any signs of monsters either.  It’s a very calm day actually, one he would be able to enjoy if his cat guardian thing wasn’t suspiciously missing.  

By early afternoon, Jean stops to think about what to do next.  He’s already visited the places that Levi mentions the most in his stories, but there’s no sign of him.

He decides to take a break and return home for lunch.  With any luck, Levi will be back and they’ll laugh about how it was all a misunderstanding.  As Jean reaches his neighborhood, he notices a familiar figure that he’s never seen there before.

Jean quickly notices that Marco looks really nice in casual clothes.  He’s wearing a silky blue button-down that stretches across his shoulders in just the best way and his jeans are fitted enough to emphasize the curves of his long, shapely legs.  He’s the best sight Jean has seen all day, even after seeing some of the best areas of the city.

Jean feels like a potato in the old t-shirt and ripped black jeans he hastily threw on that morning.  Did he even brush his hair before he left the house?  He suddenly can’t remember.

He freezes in his tracks, but the loud thud of his chunky black boots attracts attention, as it usually does.  Marco looks up and smiles brightly at him.

“Jean!”

Jean’s so overwhelmed that he wants to melt into the sidewalk until he notices a very familiar black blob in Marco’s arms.

His first thought is “ _ Oh my God, Marco Bodt stole my cat.” _

Marco hurries over to him, shifting Levi higher in his arms.  “You’re just the person I wanted to see!”

“Levi?!”

Part of Jean really wants to enjoy this special moment of having Marco look for him outside of school, but he’s also royally concerned and confused.  Levi  _ never  _ likes being picked up, so for him to just let Marco walk him across town means the cat must be hurt or something.

He quickly looks over Levi for any injuries, but he seems perfectly fine.  The cat simply blinks up lazily at him, swishing his tail leisurely back and forth.

“He  _ is  _ yours!” Marco exclaims.  “I found him last night and I wanted to bring him back to you.”

“Thanks,” Jean awkwardly accepts the heavy cat into his arms, where he promptly starts wiggling to get free.  Of course, his own cat has favoritism for Marco.  That would be Jean’s luck.  “I didn’t know you knew I had a cat or that you had an idea where I lived.”

“Oh, someone mentioned something about it,” Marco suggests vaguely.  He laughs awkwardly as he scratches at his nose, shifting his attention to Levi rather than Jean.  Jean’s been around him enough to recognize the gesture as an obvious tell for when he’s nervous or lying.  

If Jean didn’t know any better, he’d think Levi told Marco where to go.  But he doesn’t talk to people outside of their Moon Kingdom past, so that’s just impossible.

Something’s strange, but even so, Ymir would kick his ass if he let this opportunity go to waste.  “Um, since you’re here, would you like to come in for lunch?”  The words are easier to say than he expected.  Maybe with Levi so close to him, he feels a little more like his heroic alter ego than his awkward self.

Surprise takes over Marco’s face, but it’s a slow, gentle shift.  This time when Marco smiles, it feels more genuine.  “I’d really like that,” he answers softly.  Of all the smiles Marco has given him, Jean instantly decides that this one is his favorite.

* * *

Levi doesn’t talk about how he ended up with Marco, no matter how many times Jean asks.  It's frustrating because he’s supposed to guide Jean and outright secrecy seems detrimental to that goal.  Though if Jean is honest, he’s asking more to satisfy his curiosity about his crush than for space-prince business at this point.

Instead of telling Jean stories, Levi is strangely quiet that night.  It has to mean that something different happened but the cat doesn’t want to say anything.  Jean trusts Levi enough to know that it can't be too bad though, if he's keeping it to himself.

But Levi is always more honest at night.  So as Jean is falling asleep, the cat butts his head under Jean’s hand.  “I found Erwin,” he says quietly.  It’s not a full explanation, but it's enough for Jean to understand a little better.

“I’m glad,” he answers, scratching the cat behind the ear.

* * *

 

Jean didn’t think it was possible, but after their lunch together Marco is even friendlier toward him.  Marco passes him notes in class, asking about how his day is going amist cute little smiley face doodles. He laughs at Jean's shitty jokes and even eats lunch with him and Ymir once in a while.  (Surprisingly they get along well.  Ymir says it's because of the freckles.) 

Jean's favorite part is when they walk home together on the days Marco doesn’t have track practice.  Then he gets Marco's full attention for a whole 20 minutes.

It's too good to be true.

“You finally talked to him, of course he’s going to talk to you more.”  Ymir laughs.  “He probably thought you didn’t like him or something.”

Jean is too excited to be offended by her laughter.  Hell, he wants to laugh too, he’s so happy.  If it weren’t for the random monsters attacking them all the time, life would be perfect right now.

* * *

 

The monsters are getting more and more agitated.  Jean’s actually caught glimpses of the aliens in charge of the attacks, a trio that have announced that they’re searching for a crystal that he’s never heard of before.  Of course they’re 110% certain he has it.

The monsters are stronger than before and they appear far more frequently.  Levi advises the scouts to try to avoid being out in town without backup.

More often than not, Jean finds himself worrying about his mysterious soulmate.  Tuxedo Mask operates by himself more often than not.  He joins up with them when they come across dangerous enemies, but… what if he needs help?  How will they find him?

But he’s seen the man fight.  While he doesn’t seem to have a magic wand, he does have the staff he fights with, as well as magic roses that cause the monsters to be unable to move.  Even if outnumbered, he’d be able to reasonably defend himself.

Marco, on the other hand, Jean worries about whenever he gets a free thought.  Marco, sweet, kind, strong Marco, doesn’t have the weird alien magic he needs to protect himself.

And that terrifies Jean.

* * *

 

After a particularly grueling week of monster attacks, Marco surprises Jean by asking him to stay for his track practice, so they can walk home together afterward.  “I have something I want to tell you,” Marco tells him, his big brown eyes surprisingly serious.

Jean idly wonders what it could be as he watches Marco run with the rest of the track team.  The optimistic part of him really hopes Marco will ask him out because it’s starting to feel like  _ maybe  _ the freckled boy likes him back.  He’s so kind to everyone it's a little hard to tell.

He waits outside the building as the track team goes to the locker room to change.  There’s no one else around and if Jean wasn’t preoccupied with thoughts of what Marco could possibly want to tell him then he would be worried that this was the exact circumstance that Levi wanted him to avoid.

He hears a noise behind him and Jean brightens, turning to greet Marco with a smile.

Before he fully realizes that the humongous ball of slime behind him isn’t Marco, he’s fully caught up in its amorphous grasp.  Slime wraps around Jean's face, smothering his mouth and nose before he can take in another breath.

“Jean!” Marco yells, running up to the creature.  Jean’s lungs burn as he longs for the air to scream, to tell him to stay back.  He can see Marco saying something, digging in his jacket pocket as he runs, but the slime catches him before he can do whatever he’s planning.  Within seconds, he is dragged in, smothered just like Jean.

Even as Marco chokes for air he does his best to wriggle deeper into the slime until he can finally grab Jean’s hand.  Though they’re helpless, the contact is strangely encouraging because at least they aren’t suffering alone.  Tears bead in Jean’s eyes as he realizes that he might actually  _ love  _ Marco, this sweet boy who tries to comfort him rather than save his energy to try to escape.  

But he can’t save him like this.

Jean can move enough to grab his pendant where it rests under his uniform shirt.  Physically, he can transform, but if he were to now… both the enemy and Marco would know his secret.  It would probably put his family and the other scouts in danger.

But at the same time, he can’t just suffocate with Marco here.  As much as it will be a problem down the road, he can’t just give up.  He can’t let Marco die.

Jean squeezes Marco’s hand for reassurance as he grabs his moon pendant, bracing himself as the overwhelming light and heat overtake him. The hot tingling is a feeling he’s never gotten used to and it only feels amplified by the cold slime covering his skin.  In fact, it even feels like the warmth of his transformation runs down his arm and into Marco’s hand.  

The sudden temperature shift is enough for the slime to be displaced, exploding outward.  Both Jean and Marco fall to the ground, struggling to catch their breaths before the slime merges together again.

When Jean finally gathers the courage to look up at Marco, he is surprised that it’s not the same boy in the hastily thrown on school uniform.  Instead, there sits Tuxedo Mask, still holding his hand tight as he coughs slime out of his throat.  He looks up to catch Jean’s eye, giving him a shaky smile of absolute relief.

“I had a feeling,” he breathes with a smile.  Now that Jean really looks at him, he can see what he should have known the whole time:  Marco and Tuxedo Mask’s smiles are absolutely the same.

They don’t have time to talk about it anymore as the monster reforms directly in front of them.  Before the monster can latch onto them again, Marco throws a rose to immobilize it.

It’s something they’ve done a lot before; Tuxedo Mask immobilizing the villain so Sailor Moon can finish it off.  But it feels new again, now that Marco’s holding his hand.

Once the monster is defeated, Marco leads the way home, like the whole weirdness hadn’t happened.  Maybe they’re getting  _ too  _ used to this space defender royalty stuff.

“You know, that’s what I was going to tell you,” Marco confides, squeezing Jean’s hand as they walk side-by-side.  “That I’m Tuxedo Mask.  When I found out that Levi was your cat, I figured that you’d understand.”

“Wait, is Erwin  _ your _ cat?!”

“Yeah,” Marco laughs.  “Levi lied and said that you didn’t know about anything, but… I don’t know, I hoped he was wrong.”

Jean wants to ask if Marco knows about the whole “soulmate” thing, but he can’t find the courage for that.  He does, however, manage to whisper, “I hoped you were going to ask me out or something today.”

Marco looks over at him in surprise, his hand slipping away from his grip.  Before Jean can panic that he’s misread the whole situation, Marco laughs lightly and laces their fingers together, holding his hand more tightly than before.  “I figured I needed to tell you about the whole secret identity thing first.”

“First? So you do like me?” Jean hates how his voice squeaks in excitement, but loves the gentle laugh Marco gives him because of it.

They’ve made it to Jean’s street. There’s no one else around but even if there were, Jean doesn’t think he would have noticed as Marco stops to lean into his space.

They’re only a couple of inches apart now as Marco whispers, “I have for months, actually.”  He brushes their noses together, an invitation that Jean can’t resist.

As they share their first kiss in this lifetime, Levi sighs from his perch on the Kirstein’s front stoop.  The golden cat curled around him chuckles as the black cat looks on with exasperated fondness.

“About damn time.”

 

 


End file.
